The reasoning behind the strategy is twofold: Running backs are more susceptible to injury than other players, and the NFL is becoming more focused on quarterbacks and receivers with each passing season, leaving fewer and fewer opportunities for rushers to accumulate fantasy points solely on the ground. As a result, savvy owners are targeting wideouts earlier in the draft and then accumulating running backs with upside in the later rounds.

However, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy. For example, if you are assigned a top four or five pick in the draft, you’re going to want to grab one of the top four running backs, such as Le’Veon Bell, Todd Gurley, David Johnson or Ezekiel Elliott, because there is simply too much of a drop-off from them to the rest of the players at the position to justify using the Zero RB strategy. If you find yourself in the fifth slot or later, and those four rushers have been selected, by all means give Zero RB the green light.

With that in mind, here is a round-by-round Zero RB blueprint for a 12-team, point-per-reception (PPR) league, with roster requirements of one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one flex player (RB/WR/TE), one defense, a kicker and seven bench players.

Round 1

Once the top running backs are gone, there are four wideouts you will be focusing on in the first round, in this order: Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr., Michael Thomas and DeAndre Hopkins. Those are the four receivers expected to score the most points because they get the most targets, the lifeblood of fantasy football pass catchers.

Brown shouldn’t survive much longer than the sixth pick in a PPR league — according to data at Fantasy Football Calculator, Brown has an 18 percent chance of being available at pick No. 7 — for obvious reasons: he is a near lock to catch more than 100 passes for more than 1,000 yards and 8 to 10 touchdowns.

Round 2

If you are lucky enough to pick late in the first round, you could find yourself with two stud wideouts very quickly. Thomas, and perhaps Hopkins, could fall to the first or second pick of the second round, and if not, there’s always Julio Jones waiting in the wings.

Hopkins gets the largest share of team targets of any receiver in the NFL (34 percent in 2017), and Jones caught 88 of 148 passes thrown his way for 1,444 yards and a league-leading 3.1 yards per route run last season.

Alternatives to target in this round include Keenan Allen, Davante Adams, A.J. Green and Adam Thielen.

Round 3

After focusing on superstar wideouts, turn your attention to tight ends. There are only two players worthy of a third-round pick: Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce.

Gronkowski is an injury risk — the injury experts at Sports Injury Predictor see Gronkowski missing almost five games this season. But only tight ends Jimmy Graham (36 percent of team targets) and Kyle Rudolph (28 percent) were targeted more often in the red zone than Kelce (26 percent) and Gronkowski (24 percent) last season.

Round 4

It is possible Larry Fitzgerald is still lingering by the start of the fourth round (17 percent chance), and if so, scoop him up. Fitzgerald and Brown are the only two receivers coming off three straight seasons with at least 100 catches, 1,000 yards and six touchdowns.

Tate flies under the radar; however, he earned the seventh-highest grade by the game charters at Pro Football Focus in 2017. Landry had the third-highest catch rate among slot receivers (78 percent), trailing only Tate (80 percent) and Kendall Wright (80 percent).

Round 5

The fifth round is where you start to diversify your roster, starting with a premier quarterback such as Russell Wilson or Cam Newton. There will be other passers on the board — Deshaun Watson, Tom Brady and Drew Brees, for example — but Wilson and Newton provide good value in this spot.

Wilson is coming off a season in which he tossed 34 touchdowns and rushed for three more, giving him a league-high 86 percent of his team’s touchdowns in 2017. Newton wasn’t as prolific through the air (28 touchdowns), although he did make up for that on the ground (tied for a league-high six rushing touchdowns).

Round 6

Here’s where the focus finally turns to running backs. The goal is to accumulate versatile, pass-catching backs who either play significant roles in the offense or get enough work at the goal line to provide a steady stream of fantasy points. It’s an added bonus when those players are also in line for an increased workload if something should happen to the No. 1 option on the depth chart.

Per Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune, Cohen has been “lining up everywhere to maximize his speed, agility and explosiveness with the ball in his hands” under new Coach Matt Nagy. Nagy also said Cohen was the Bears’ “most dynamic player.” High praise for the second-year pro.

Burkhead scored on 5 of 16 red-zone carries for the New England Patriots in 2017, including 4 of 9 in goal-to-go situations.

Round 7

There hasn’t been much to like about the Cleveland Browns offense the past two years, though none of the blame can fall on Duke Johnson. The 24-year-old do-it-all back produced more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of the past two years, with a career-high seven touchdowns in 2017. He also recorded the third-most yards per route run (2.1) for running backs that year, per Pro Football Focus, behind only first-round picks Alvin Kamara (2.8) and Todd Gurley (2.1).

Round 8

No running back selected this late will be perfect, yet there should be plenty of available options, including Sony Michel, Marshawn Lynch, Ronald Jones II, Isaiah Crowell and C.J. Anderson.

Anderson is coming off a 245-carry, 1,000-yard season for the Denver Broncos and could vulture opportunities from Christian McCaffery in Carolina. Anderson also has a better chance to break the game open with a big run: his nine rushes of 15 yards or more in 2017 were almost as many as McCaffery (four) and Jonathan Stewart (six) had for the Panthers, combined.

There should be a few good receivers available, such as Marqise Lee and Sterling Shepard, to increase your roster depth.

Based on preseason snaps, Shepard should again be used by the New York Giants in the slot, leaving him poised to take advantage when wideout Beckham draws double coverage. That would also maximize Shepard’s ability to be effective on crossing routes, a staple of Pat Shurmur’s offense. According to Pro Football Focus, Shepard’s 11.5 yards after the catch per reception in 2018 were the most by a receiver since 2012.

#Giants Sterling Shepard was at his best on crossing routes last season.

Latavius Murray might not be able to wrest control of the starting job in Minnesota from Dalvin Cook, but he does provide the Vikings with a viable back-up option.

Murray averaged 2.6 yards per carry after contact in 2017, with eight rushes producing 15 or more yards, the same breakaway percentage as Gurley and Melvin Gordon.

Round 12

Washington Redskins running back Samaje Perine isn’t getting first-team reps, but Rob Kelley hasn’t shown he is ready to be the main back after rookie Derrius Guice was placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL and lost for the season. (The Redskins signed Adrian Peterson this week, but it isn’t clear how big a role he might play.)

That could allow Perine, whose rates were similar to Kelley’s last season, per Sports Info Solutions, to move up the depth chart. Remember, part of the Zero RB strategy is to anticipate upside, and Perine fits the mold, even despite suffering an ankle injury in a preseason game against the Jets.

2017 Redskins

Attempts

Yards per attempt

Yards after contact per carry

Broken tackle rate

First down rate

Samaje Perine

175

3.4

2.4

13%

13%

Robert Kelley

62

3.1

2.4

15%

8%

Round 13

Bilal Powell of the New York Jets touched the ball 189 and 201 times in 2016 and 2017, respectively, with five total touchdowns each year, giving him ample opportunity to be a factor either as an injury or bye-week replacement this season.

Round 14

Pittsburgh Steelers receiver James Washington is going undrafted in PPR leagues, but that could be a mistake. The second-round pick in the 2018 draft made five catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night, and had the highest contested catch rate (88 percent) among all prospects in the last three draft classes.

Round 15 and 16

Find a defense and kicker you like and enjoy what should be a fantastic fantasy football season.

Neil GreenbergNeil Greenberg is a staff writer with The Washington Post whose beat is sports analytics. His analysis and insight can be found on the Fancy Stats blog, where he covers all pro sports, as well as college football and basketball. Follow